Journey through the Afterlife
by Edgar Allan Moose
Summary: OC's created by you try to survive a week in the Reaper's Game.
1. Prologue

Journey through the Afterlife

A fatal accident had occurred. Was it an accident? Was it sickness? Was it murder? Doesn't matter. You're dead, and your past life is behind you...

That is... until now. Upon reaching your tragic end, you found yourself at a table in a strange dark room with a faint purple light. Soothing jazz music plays in the distance. Around you are many people who appear to be thinking exactly what you are. The confused chatter is interrupted by a dark-skinned man with long dreadlocks and a suit. His presence manages to calm everyone down.

"Welcome to 'The Nile'. My name is Seth. This, my friends, is where you are able to compete to re-enter the land of the living, or the R-" Expected commotion occurred. People had mixed reactions realizing that they were dead. It ends shortly after, as people regained interest in what the mysterious man was saying.

"I invite all of you to play a **game **with me. The rules are simple..." He takes a long pause and looks over his shoulder. "Very simple..." he says slightly louder. A reaper in a hoodie nervously runs toward the tables and hands a flier to each person. The reaper nods to his superior before leaving your field of view. You glance over his flier while he continues to talk.

"If you decide to join, a mere seven days of **gameplay **stands between you and your old life. Lose the game, or stay here: the reapers will give you the quick painless gift of erasure. Read the flier carefully. If you're lucky, I'll see you in a week." He smiles and turns around. Now that he finished talking, you begin to pay more attention to your paper.

_Welcome, Players, to the Reaper's Game!_

_Q: How do I play!?_

_A: Why, it is as simple as any game! At the beginning of each day, listen to the ringing pay phone. Your local Game Master will tell you your day's "Objective". Said "Objective" will have to be completed in a given time._

_Q: Game Master!?_

_A: Ah, apologies. The game master is one of the most important aspects. He will be pitting you and your partner against Noise, puzzles, walls, and... if you get far enough... the Game Master himself (or herself)!_

_Q: Noise!?_

_A: Yes, noise! They are strange animals that live in people's heads and erase those without partners. Reapers can also summon them. Trust me, it will make sense in context._

_Q: Partners!?_

_A: You didn't hear wrong! In order to play the fun way, you need to form a pact. Pacts are fun! Pacts allow you to:_

_*Fight Noise!_

_*Complete Missions!_

_*Fill in the gaping hole of your lonely dead heart!_

_You and your equally confused partner must work together to survive the mean streets of postmortem Manhattan. Otherwise, you're just the next harvest for the Reapers._

_Q: Reapers!?_

_A: Reapers indeed! There are three types of Reapers:_

_Support reapers, those who are here to help you through the game... or at least hinder you in a nonlethal way._

_Harriers, unkind fellows who summon Noise to attack Players._

_And the aforementioned Game Master, the final obstacle you'll have to pass to win._

_Q: Why would I play this Game? What's in it for me?_

_A: You can win one of three fabulous prizes!_

_Reincarnation. Yes, you can get a second chance at life, starting from where you left off. The week leading to your death will be completely forgotten by all members of the living excluding yourself, and life continues until the next time you die. And you can even play again later!_

_Recruitment. Or, even better, why continue your old life when you can get an eternal one? Winning the game also gives you the choice to join the esteemed ranks of the Reapers! Eternal life, all personal expenses paid for you, and very lenient working hours!_

_Ascension. You may even become an angel! See your Conductor post-game for details._

_With such a fun premise, and so many wonderful opportunities, who wouldn't play through the Game?_

_*Note: Not all participants qualify for all prizes. See your Conductor for details._

_- The Reapers_

Well, this sounded fun. You slowly get up, ready to embrace the mysterious world of tomorrow.

_Author's Note..._

And here it begins. For those of you still wondering about the Second Person Narrative, this story is about submitting your OC's into the Game. As you might have guessed, this doesn't take place in the same setting as the game we are all familiar with. This game will take place in a different city; New York, specifically Manhattan. This is just so the environment feels more familiar to write about and your OC's don't have to interact with canon characters.

Anyway, if you want your OC to be a Player, you will need to fill in the following information...

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Appearance:

Personality:

Psych:

Your Psych is your weapon of choice (Ex. Shiki uses Mr. Mew, Beat uses a skateboard, etc.). It can be anything you want, just remember that it should be something your character could and would carry around all the time. Also, feel free to put some extra detail into appearance and personality.

In addition, you should Private Message me how your character died, what your character's entrance fee was, or any other things that your character hides. It should be PM'd for the sake of interesting character development. There would be no interesting revelations if everyone could learn everything about all the characters simply by reading the 'Review' menu.

In addition, you can have your OC be a Harrier as well (A Reaper who sicks noise on people, like Uzuki or Kariya) Keep in mind that there should be more Players than Harriers. If you wish to make a Harrier, just send me information that you would make for a Player, but instead of a Psych, just choose a fighting style (a weapon, beamspam, fists, etc). You don't need to PM me, unless your Harrier has hidden depths and motives as well. I will be creating Reaper Officers, the Conductor, the Composer, and the Producer.

Well, begin submitting your characters and good luck... The UG can be a dangerous place.


	2. Day 1

Journey through the Afterlife

Day 1

Author's Note: And so it begins. I decided that I probably have enough characters to start by now, so let's do this!

_Memento Mori_

People began to crowd around the mysterious Seth, each with their own set of questions.

"It's good to see so many eager to join this... **game **of ours. It shall begin soon. If you aren't up to it, please leave the room immediately."

Nobody left the room. Seth smiled and continued speaking.

"That's the spirit. I shall be taking your entrance fee; that which you value most." The room briefly flashed white, but it didn't seem that anything happened. Seth began to speak again. "Now... It's **game time.**" The room flashed white, removing all the other people from the room.

_42nd Street, Times Square_

Rafe found herself with her face against the concrete. Many pedestrians were walking over her, but they all phased thorough her, what with being on a separate plane of existence and all. Slowly while getting up, she picked up her black cabbie hat and placed it on her head. Then she began to reflect on what had happened.

_'Well, let's see..._she began thinking. _The pamphlet mentioned finding a partner and listening to phone booths for instructions. And then that one guy said something about an "Entrance Fee" right before we left._

Rafe checked her wallet briefly. Its contents seemed to have remained the same._ Not that kind of fee, I guess. _It was most likely something that was more important than cash. Money wasn't Rafe's main focus in life, but she couldn't think what else she would have to lose. _Well, standing here won't do anything. I should probably focus on actually playing the game. _

As Rafe began walking, she noticed a pay phone ringing. No one seemed to be responding to it, so Rafe had a good feeling it was the Reapers giving out instructions. She quickly picked up the phone. There was a pause before the voice began speaking.

"Good day." The voice was heavily amplified, and it sounded like there were multiple people talking at the same time.

"Who is th-" Rafe began before being cut off. She then figured that the voice was pre-recorded.

"Today's mission is to get to the Central Park Pond, 59th Street. With a partner. That is all. Time signature is 4/4. Normal time. 60 minutes," the voice corrected itself multiple times, realizing not everyone would understand musical lingo. The voice hung up. _Guess I should get moving._

_The Nile_

A group of three sat at a circular table by the stage. To the side was a stage with a musician playing the violin. Aside from the quiet motif playing, the room was dead silent. That is until a door was kicked down by a man with a light blue trench coat and dark blue hair.

"Heyheyhey!" He smiled. "I heard there was a new game crackling! How come nobody told me..? Enh? Fill me in, people!" One of the people sitting, a man with smoothed blond hair wearing a suit and expensive watch, cleared his throat.

"...Just Having Some Lunch/

Why Did you Kick Down the Door?/

Use the Door Knob..."

Realizing his haiku was 1 syllable short, he took a pause and looked to the side.

"...bitch."

The blue-haired man ignored his poem and stared at the table.

"Jesus! How many harriers do we have this game?"

"Forgot how to count? I'm not surprised." A girl with brown and red hair chuckled.

"Screw you too." The man dragged a chair to the table and sat down with the three. "But really, why so many harriers? I swear, Dreads is just doing everything he can to make the game nigh unwinnable. Not only that, but there's bonus days, too... What's up with that?"

Another harrier, a girl with long white hair and a katana on her back let out a long sigh. Vector Dagonet was a reaper officer, but before that, he was a stand-up comedian. A bad one. She heard his comedy routine before, and has loathed sound of his voice ever since.

"Enh? Enh?" He waited for a response.

"...What's a bonus day?" The girl with red and brown hair asked.

"Huh? Bah. Where have you been..?" Vector raised an eyebrow.

"The name's Kat. I transferred here recently from Shibuya."

"Shibuya? Isn't that the place where the game went off the rails and, like, a bajillion staff members got erased?"

"Yeah, that's where I was. I was transferred here because they needed to find a new Conductor before beginning the game." There was more silence after she finished speaking. "Oh, right, I asked an important question before all that exposition. So..?"

"Right, right." The white haired girl nodded. "Every harrier gets their own day, each week, to actually attack a player themselves. It helps increase our points, but we can also get erased by the players themselves that day."

"Aha! That's right! I'm supposed to give out your bonus days! Alright, um..." Vector trailed off. The blond man chuckled.

"You forgot our names again."

"What! Hey! No! It's um... Clock-Man and Sword-Girl, right..? Haha." The two harriers groaned.

"Kurai Abakashi." The blond man face-palmed.

"Zefie Kurosaki" The white haired girl head-desked.

"BAH. And you guys blame ME. How the hell am I supposed to remember names like that? It's Clock-Man and Sword-Girl from now on. So, Clock-Man, you got Day 2. Sword-Girl, Day 4, Kat, Day 6. Got it? Got it. Okay, so who's the Game Master this week?"

The violinist stopped playing and scratched a chord on his violin. The unbearably awful sound caused Vector to cover his ears.

"Gah! Uwain?" He asked.

"Quite. Well done, Dagonet. I guess even you aren't always completely off-key." Edward Uwain had short brown hair and a cravat. Wherever he went, his violin followed. "But then again, there are only two other officers besides you."

"Right..." Vector got up from his seat. "Well, good luck with that. I'll be at the bar for the remainder of the week." With that, Vector turned around and left the room.

"Well. I'm excited." Kurai nodded.

_44th Street_

"What the hell? C'mon, just make a pact with me!" A young boy with short black hair shouted. The small, pale, blond girl he was talking to snapped back.

"Hey, Pacts are serious business! How do I know I should spend the rest of the game with you!?" She crossed her arms.

"Well-wait-what? C'mon! This is for survival, not a goddamn job application! Why the hell not?" The two continued yelling at each other until the boy was jumped by a pack of frogs and erased.

"Crap." She stumbled backwards as the frogs advanced toward her.

"Look out!" A boy with torn jeans and a black pony-tail holding out a player pin shouted. The two then felt dizzy as if they've been spun around.

"**Pact Confirmed" **A voice boomed.

"What?" The girl looked around. Nothing but frogs and the boy she just recently made a pact with. He faced the frogs and pulled out a Swiss Army Knife, which turned into a giant energy blade.

"Gah!" _What the hell was that!? I thought the knife had only a small blade, a bottle opener, and a screwdriver. But there's no time to complain. I need to help this girl. _He charged at a frog and sliced it in half. He fiddled with his 'knife' and the blade turned into a lance.

"It's alright... I can do this." He assured her. _Screw that. _She didn't know why, but she pulled out her iPhone. It was by pure instinct that she saw it as a potential weapon, and more effective that any kind of gun or knife. She began pressing numbers on the keypad. Without warning, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the Frog Noise multiple times until it was nothing but a smoldering black spot in the road.

"Hey! Um... Thanks." He looked slightly downwards. "Name's Damon Enzeng." The girl stared at him briefly to size him up. "Alexandria Rai. So. I guess we're partners now..." she sighed. "Alright, let's go."

_53rd Street_

Alison tried another song. Still nothing. It's not that her mp3 player didn't work, or she didn't like the songs. Far from it, in fact. But as of today, the songs didn't seem to have the same rhythm, or give the same positive vibes that they used to. But still-

"Alice? Are you... OK...? You, uh, have been kind of quiet..." Ari starred at her. The two didn't know each other before the game, but they have rather bonded over the small course of time they spent together.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, thanks." She smiled. "Central Park should be just a few blocks away..." Alison checked her hand for the engraved number. "We still got a lot of time, I'm sure we'll be alright." Right after she said that, a pentagram formed in the sidewalk, and a white-haired girl with a katana emerged from it.

"Hi!" Zefie waved.

"Um... Are you a player...?" Ari asked. She didn't recall players being able to teleport.

"Relax, relax, I'm just trying to score some points. Now, if you'll excuse me..." She drew her sword and slashed an arc into the air. A rift was created, and out of that rift came several vulture Noise.

As the noise advanced toward them, Alison continued fiddling with her mp3._Better find a good song. This'll be a long one. _Music notes began to float around Alison as Ari brandished her jump rope in an aggressive stance.

_59th Street, Central Park Pond_

Rafe sat by the pond, still partnerless. It took longer to navigate her way to the park than expected, and she still couldn't find any other players to join her. She looked around the area and found a boy with curly hair lying by a tree. _Could he be a player? Only one way to find out._

"Hey, you there!" The boy looked in her direction.

"Do you need a partner?" She got up and approached him. He opened his mouth and continued to stare in her direction.

"Hello?" She fiddled with the keys on her lanyard. _Crap, it's a living guy. And it doesn't look like he'll be run over by a bus in the next 5 seconds... _Rafe turned away to continue her search. _Hey, wait! _she noticed that she couldn't read his mind, a strange exception to her usual abilities in the UG. When she turned around, the boy was wagging his player pin back and forth.

"**Pact Confirmed" **

"Oh! Nice to meet you. Name's Rafe." She stuck out her hand. "What's yours?" The boy stared at her in a disappointed manner.

"Um.. Right. Sorry." The boy reached into his pocket to pull out a pen. He motioned letters in with it, and, surprisingly, actual letters were created in the air.

**J-A-C-K**

"...Huh. Alright Jack. Let's win this-" Suddenly Rafe felt a serious pain in her chest. She clamped her hand around where her heart was. Rafe began to stumble as Jack tried to help her stand up. After taking a set of breaths to recover, Rafe now knew what her entrance fee was. She sighed and muttered:

"This is gonna suck."

_The Nile_

"Tomorrow's your big day, Abakashi. Are you ready?" Uwain asked while putting his violin in a case.

"Life is but a walking shadow; A poor  
Player that struts and frets his hour upon  
The stage and then is heard no more."

Kurai said confidently. Uwain stared at him while raising an eyebrow.

"Line from Macbeth." Kurai confirmed. Uwain chuckled in response. "Right. I'll take that as a yes, then." He turned around to speak again as he left the room. "Try not to erase too many players. Us officers still need points from time to time." With that, he closed the door.

End of Day 1

**Author's Note**: So this is the first REAL chapter. Sorry if I was brief on some of the characters, but I plan to give each character their own 'moment' later on. If you still want more details on some of the OC's, you can always check to 'Review' section.

In addition, if you still want to submit characters, you still can until Day 3. Harriers, however, I won't use due to already having three of them. Also, if you want to post something new about an OC you created, simply PM me, as usual.

I'm planning to create the next chapter soon, but don't take my word for it.


	3. Day 2

Journey through the Afterlife

Day 2

**Author's Note: **Aha! I live once more! You can't get rid of me that easily! I'd like to DEEPLY apologize for the long wait everyone had to endure. The funny thing is that I nearly finished this chapter about a WEEK after the previous chapter was released. But I got carried away with other things and couldn't finish.

Anyway, there's some things I'd like to announce. First off, we got some more new players, and I'd like to thank all for contributing. But my tiny brain can take only so many players to keep track of, so I'll try to squeeze in new guys if say, players begin to get erased.

In addition, I plan on making a sequel to this fan-fic after Day 7/Conclusion. It will take place in the same continuity and city, and people can re-submit new characters. I'm saying this because in the unlikely event that somebody dies in this chapter or next, the creator of the character won't feel so down.

Well, that's about it. Now try to enjoy the story.

_Central Park_

Kurai stared at his watch. _60 Minutes. As usual. It always seems like I get less time than the other ones. Doesn't matter, though, all I really have to do is cut down on the monologues. Well, I'll try. _

Harriers often had different opinions about early Bonus days. A lot of Reapers his age personally love having the opportunity to fight "seasoned" players in a late day like 5 or 6. But those people are idiots. And idiots get their asses kicked by "seasoned" players. While mercilessly erasing "fresh" players was a little heart-wrenching, it was really the safest and smartest way to gain points.

Kurai looked up at the night sky. He chose that this event happened late. _Would it be easier in the day? Maybe. Would it look as cool? No. No it wouldn't._ Kurai slowly, but eagerly, walked up to a phone booth and placed coins inside. He put the phone to his ear and chuckled softly to himself.

"Name's Abakashi/

Today is a Bonus Day/

Survive if you can/"

I'll hunt you guys down/

Until the clock stops ticking/

Let's try to have fun."

Kurai continued chuckling as he hung up the phone. He was supposed to explain the rules to the players. _Hope they got the gist of it via haiku.. I'm sure they'll understand soon enough. _He walked out of the park as his soft chuckling erupted into insane laughter.

_61st Street_

Maikeru Tapang continued watching the flickering flames of his lighter while sitting down. Completely focused on the fire, he didn't notice his partner approaching him.

"Mornin', Maikeru. Well, evening, actually. Still feels like morning, though. Know what I mean?" a boy with very dark blue hair approached him. Maikeru continued looking at the flame of the lighter.

"So...Did you answer the phone? Maikeru. MAIKERU? Hello?"

"Still here."

"Well then, feel like sharing with the class?"

"About today's goal?" He turned off the lighter and looked at him. "Guy named Abakashi wants us dead. We have 60 minutes to stay alive for today."

"That so..." he sighed. "Well, standing here won't do us any good, then. I say we erase this guy before we both get our asses kicked."

"Well then, Shigeki." Maikeru stood up before reaching into his jacket pocket to put on a pair of blue sunglasses. "Let's survive."

_42nd Street_

Damon walked down the street with two hot dogs in hand.

"Alex?" He asked. "I got some food from a Mexican Dog stall... Um...You want one?" He smiled nervously.

Alexandria took a long, heavy sigh. "JESUS, David. First; it's Alex**andria**, if I wanted to be called Alex, I'd tell you that. And second; _No. _I don't eat generic food brands, remember? Yeesh, you have no idea how to act in front of celebrities." _What!? _Damon thought. _She's a celebrity? Crap. Would she get angry if I never heard of her? Probably shouldn't ask that-_

"Y-you're a celebrity? I, um, didn't know." He looked to the side. "So, er, what do you do for a living? Do you like... Never mind."

"It's Alexandria **Rai**!? Heiress of **Rai** Hotels!? Hello?"

"I- Sorry!" He waved his hands. "Um... Sounds nice though. Hotels? Maybe I should visit sometime-"

"UGH!" She turned away. "Never mind. Let's just continue avoiding that guy..." Glad to change the conversation, Damon nodded.

"Yeah, but we don't know what that Abasomething guy even looks like, I mean, he could..." Damon trailed off. "Well, judging from the hoodies we saw before the game began, we can only assume those people have giant black wings. Try to remember that." She walked away. Damon sighed threw away one of the Mexican Dogs before following.

_So much for that. Just proves that socializing doesn't make a better team._

_54th Street, Entrance to Sunshine Station Burger Chain_

"Try it again." Rafe nodded. Jack charged at the door and kicked it. Nothing happened. After kicking the door for what seemed like a hundred times, Jack turned around and looked at Rafe strangely.

"What? See that symbol?" She pointed to a graffiti mark above the store entrance. "I found out yesterday that players can go into those buildings. But it doesn't seem to matter now." She sighed. "I figured that maybe we could wait indoors while the timer goes down." Jack let out a sigh as he leaned against the wall.

"In off the moors, down through the mist bands, God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping." A voice said. Jack and Rafe looked around, in a panic. "The bane of the race of men roamed forth, hunting for prey in the high hall." Kurai jumped from the roof of the building the team was trying to enter, landing right in front of them. "Kurai Abakashi. Lover of poetry and devoted Harrier to the Conductor." He bowed.

"Abakashi..." _Oh. CRAP. _Rafe reached around her neck and pointed her camera.

"Taking a picture? Please, please, there is no need for that." As she snapped a photo, a white flash emerged as a photo of Kurai fell from the camera. Kurai flinched in pain. Quickly noticing what had happened, Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a pen.

"Hm? Oh, that was supposed to be an attack. Ah, the eagerness of young players; they have no idea how to REALLY use a psych in combat." He pulled out a watch that fired a beam at both of them, but Jack quickly sketched a shield with his pen to block it.

"Magnificent! Let's see how long you can keep that up!" He chuckled as he raised his clock again. While Jack prepared to draw another shield, he was kicked by Abakashi, knocking the pen from his hand. Kurai continued a flurry of punches and kicks, most of which Jack couldn't block. Mainly because Kurai moved in a strange and unpredictable way. While Rafe and Jack could see him land the blow, they never actually saw him pull back for a punch. It just... happened. As Rafe helplessly watched Jack receive a no-holds barred beat-down from Kurai, she began to think of how her psych could help. She ran up to him and swung her purse. He re-appeared 5 feet away and countered with another clock-laser. It hurt a lot, though she still managed to quickly get back on her feet.

"Rather tenacious, aren't we?" Kurai fired another energy beam, but they both managed to roll out of the way. Jack grabbed his pen and hastily drew what appeared to be some sort of gun, but it looked more like a tin can with a handle. Without hesitation, he unloaded the gun. Kurai did another teleport to sidestep all of them. Rafe snapped a picture of the strange clock that Kurai held. A photo came out of her camera and fell to the floor. She quickly raised the photo of the camera into the air and summoned a replica of the exact same clock. Suddenly, everything except for her and Kurai lost color and ceased to move.

"W-What the hell?" She asked as she looked at the clock. Kurai began chuckling. "Hey. You're using my psych. Impressive." He ran up to her. The world began to move again and regained it's colors. "Of course, it can only stop time momentarily. Quite a shame, is it not?" Jack snuck up behind him with a newly drawn sword. Kurai turned around and fired a laser at him, destroying the blade and sent Jack plummeting to the floor. Rafe tried the watch, but it was ineffective. After hopelessly waving it around, she futilely threw it at Kurai. _It's impossible to win against this guy if I hardly knew how this thing works. _Rafe thought as she looked at her camera. "Jack!" She looked at her wounded partner.

"Screw this guy, we'll have to get out of here." Jack nodded while getting up. They quickly stared at Kurai before turning around and running away. Kurai glanced at his clock. _Only 40 minutes..!? Ridiculous. I've only erased about 3 pairs. No way I'm letting this slide. _Kurai punched the ground with the clock he was holding. A large group of wolfs rose from the ground and chased after them.

The duo continued to run from the wolves. It's not as if they thought they couldn't erase the wolves, but the Noise was really just a red herring. Fighting them would allow Kurai to catch up with their team.

_Central Park_

"...And so then I said 'No, _THAT'S _a goat!" Alison laughed as she finished her joke.

"I...I don't get it." Ari scratched her head.

"Ah...Never mind." The two continued walking along the road, still keeping an eye out for any homicidal Reapers. Meanwhile, Shigeki and Maikeru watched in the distance.

"Can't scan them. They're either Players or Reapers." Shigeki said, still focused on them.

"Well, the Reaper that's hunting us was a guy. Unless one of them has an... important secret... I'm assuming that they are players. Let's ignore them." Maikeru began to walk away

"Hey. **You **said that the guy on the phone was a man. For all we know, one of them could just be an incredibly girly-looking dude." Shigeki grabbed Tapang by the shoulder. "...Like Chris."

"Well, what are you gonna do, kid? Just run up to them and set them on fire?"

"No, **we're **going to run up to them and set them on fire!" Shigeki holstered his whip and spun it around menacingly. "Let's do this!" Shigeki ignited his whip and charged at the duo. After lashing at Alison, Ari retaliated by quickly running behind Shigeki and wrapping her jump rope around his neck. Shigeki began to flail is whip around furiously while breaking out of the girl's grasp.

"Who the hell are you guys?" Alison got up. Maikeru slowly walked forward. "We're Players. And, if my partner has managed to prove anything, you are as well." He took a hesitant pause before resuming. "My name is Maikeru Tapang. That's Shigeki. There. Now how about you introduce yourselves as well..?" Shigeki returned to Maikeru's side and nodded.

"...Okay. I'm Alison Lorel, and this here is Ari... Kagamine"

"_Outstanding. _My partner and I are looking to erase Abakashi, the Reaper."

Shigeki rubbed his arm. "So if you seen a guy who might me him, give us a call."

"You want to fight him?" Ari spoke "But we're supposed to avoid him. The idea is that we make sure we... _don't _fight him."

"Right, right," Shigeki chuckled. "But he wants us to _think _we don't stand a chance, only because he knows that the odds of him getting his smug ass erased is just as likely as ours."

"And if we get rid of Abakashi, we win the day. And shall continue doing so until week's end." Maikeru concluded. "So would you like to help us survive?" He stepped forward. Alison and Ari stared at each other, pondering what to do. After what seemed like an eternity, Rafe sighed.

"Sure. We'll help you fight him _if _he finds _us_. Remember that we still win if we wait it out."

"W-wait, are you sure, Alice? I mean..."

"Hey, hey, no worries." Shigeki smiled. "Abakashi shouldn't be that difficult."

_51st Street_

Kurai slammed the player into the wall, leaving cracks and crevices in the building.

"...I'll kill you! Y-You son of a bitch!" The player helplessly kicked his legs.

"Hey, hey, language." Kurai slammed him into the wall again."So, any idea where that other player you were with is hiding? There's no use in not telling me, you know. If I don't get him in roughly 5 minutes, he's Noise Food." The player struggled to speak, due to Abakashi's tight grip on his throat. "He...He's...Hiding behind this building...In a dumpster..." He managed to whimper. Kurai repeatedly slammed the young boy into a wall, steadily increasing strength with each passing blow. Soon afterward, the player erupted into static, leaving Kurai staring at the damaged wall.

"Slow day, Abakashi?" Kat slowly walked behind him. "...I've had better" Kurai chuckled. "7 players, going on 8. Although I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how _you _fight players. But that's assuming that they are even alive by your bonus day. Hardly anyone picks up the ropes fast enough to win."

"So, you're saying you'd be happier to see more people survive today?" Kat smirked. "It'd mean that you wouldn't have to think up as many poems and haiku to tell your victims."

"Well, would you look at that." Abakashi pointed at his watch. "Only 30 minutes left. Goes to show how long and tedious this conversation is. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do." Kurai raised his clock and disappeared in a flash.

_Central Park, Pond Area_

The newly formed team all sat down at benches nearby the pond.

"So, if we're going to stick together like a pact," Alison gestured to the two newcomers "How about we try and get to know each other more?"

"I don't see why." Maikeru leaned back in the bench.

"Well, you know," Alison continued. "Ari and I already discussed how we died and what we lost. It helps us kind of connect, you know?" Maikeru began to look annoyed.

"What do you want to hear? Would you like to hear how and why I died? I'm sure that's a **very **interesting story. Even better; finding out that you still have to continue living _after _you burn to death, only to find out that people are forcing you to team up with some random kid, in hopes to survive a week with everything trying to erase you from existence."

"Okay, shut the hell up for a second, will you?" Alison stood up. "Jesus, it seems that every time we try and talk with you we just get some snappy retort. Listen, dying obviously wasn't fun, but that's why we are here, so we can continue living and _avoid _death. So you don't have to tell us about your past, but you can at least pretend that you care about what's happening to us!"

"Damn." Shigeki raised an eyebrow, but followed it with a long sigh. "She has a point. Acting like a dick to everyone you meet gets you shot at. I should know, of all people."

"I guess you're right..." Maikeru got up and looked at his hand. "Sorry about that." Ari smiled and nodded."Glad that's over with. Let's just leave the past behind for now."

"Well, we still got half an hour left for today." Maikeru said while staring at his hand. So let's stop tearing each others throats out and continue doing what we do to stay alive."

"But... My dear boy..." A figure walked in. "Tearing people's throats out IS what we do to stay alive." Kurai walked in, panting heavily after a brief run.

"Ahem... Kurai Abakashi, Lover of Poetry and Devoted-" Kurai's introduction was cut off by Maikeru pulling out his lighter and torching him.

"Hey. Hey. HeyheyheyheyheyHEY!" Kurai shrugged off the flames. "**Ouch**." He raised his clock and re-appeared behind Maikeru and kicked him in the head. In a state of panic, Shigeki and Ari stumbled out of their seats.

"Four on one, eh?" Kurai smiled. "'Now this is the point. You fancy me mad.'" Kurai released a beam aimed for everyone, but only managed to destroy the bench.

"'Madmen know **nothing**. But you should have seen me.

You should have seen how wisely I proceeded –

with what caution,

with what foresight,

with what dissimulation, I went to work!'"

He blasted Shigeki as he ignited his whip. Alison began firing blasts of sound at Abakashi, sending him flying back, disarmed of his watch.

"Now's our chance, let's run!" Alison said to the team. Nobody else responded. "We're...fighting him for real, aren't we?" Maikeru got up and nodded. "No point turning back now." He turned around to quickly torch Kurai. "We can do this..."

"'Yes he has been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions; but he had found all in vain.'"

Kurai reached out his hand and grabbed Maikeru's shirt collar. He then delivered a sluggish blow to the face, knocking off Maikeru's sunglasses.

"ALL IN VAIN,

because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him and enveloped the victim."

He continued with his onslaught of blows before Ari lashed at him with her jump rope. "You sure like to talk a lot." She grunted as she charged at him again. Kurai tumbled across the grass and reclaimed his clock, stopping time right before Ari landed her next blow. He narrowly avoided it, only to be hit by Shigeki's whip. While stunned from the blow, Alison began firing more blasts of music at him.

"**That's enough!**" Abakashi punched the floor with his clock, summoning a large noise mammoth to the battlefield. The gigantic beast towered behind him, its shadow looming over the Players. Kurai chuckled.

"Hey, fair's fair, right? 'You can be a king or a street sweeper... But everyone dances with the Grim Reaper.'" The mammoth stomped the floor, shaking the earth and knocking the players off their feet. Kurai then fired a beam from his clock, hitting all the fallen players. Maikeru slowly got up and readied his weapon.

"Oh, perhaps you misheard me." Kurai cleared his throat. "You see, I intended for you all to die after I said that. But if you want a more tragic and longer death... Well, I won't complain."

"Hey. Guys." Maikeru looked behind him as his comrades got up. "I... was wrong. We won't win against this guy. Just run while I try to hold him off."

"What? No, we-" Alison began, before being interrupted by Maikeru. "Listen, I learned a few things while-" he managed to say before being erased by another blast from Kurai.

"It's rude to interrupt. But that's karma." Kurai stared at the place Maikeru once stood.

"Shit! Maikeru!" Shigeki gasped. He ran at Kurai and began rapidly hitting him, each attack barely phasing him. "I'll never forgive you for this!"

"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it," Kurai said, smiling. The mammoth stomped the ground once more, knocking the players down, once again. Kurai slowly walked up to Shigeki and pointed his watch at him.

"Time's up." Kurai failed to say without slightly smirking at the pun. Alison ran up to him and tackled him, sending both to the floor.

"Woman. Get off me." He threw her to the side and rose back up his feet. Ari's jump rope glowed with an electric aura as she ran up to Kurai to attack him once more, and was once again stopped right before she landed the blow. Alison got up and prepared to take another shot out of her mp3 when Kurai sidestepped and blasted her with another beam.

"Hey. Elephant." He looked up at the mammoth and pointed to the severely wounded Shigeki. "Get rid of the fallen player, will you?" The mammoth slowly advanced toward Shigeki. Alison looked nervously at the mammoth before snapping Ari out of her frozen position.

"Ari, we need to stop that elephant before it erases Shigeki." As she said that, Shigeki slowly rose up.

"No... it's cool... I... got this." Shigeki panted while igniting his whip. "T-try to focus.. on the Reaper." Alison chose not to listen, ran between Shigeki and the mammoth and proceeded to fire blasts of sound at it. She increased the pitch and frequency of her attacks as the mammoth increased its running speed. Ari jumped on top of the mammoth and finished it with her jump rope right before it hit Alison.

"...You killed my mammoth!/

I worked hard on him, you know/

I'll do this my-"

Flames covered Abakashi before he finished his poem. Shigeki tossed Maikeru's lighter aside and began to repeatedly attack Kurai until he fell to his knees. Still while on fire, Kurai looked up at Shigeki.

"..Such power, you possess, to erase.. **me**... of all people, while partnerless. I must say, I-" Shigeki finished him off with one final blow, forever erasing Kurai Abakashi.

The three stood there, silently wondering what was going to happen. In a flash of light, the clocks on their hands disappeared and The Game Master appeared before them, playing an ominous motif on his violin.

"Magnificent. Defeating a harrier is no easy task." The reaper said, still playing the violin.

"W-who are you?" Ari stumbled back.

"I am the one in charge of this weeks game. You may call me Edward Uwain." He put his violin in its case before resuming. "I'm here to both congratulate you on your efforts. But I'm also here to take something..."

"And... What's that?" Alison asked. "Well, I'm sure you know that a player cannot exist without the accompaniment a partner. In order for this game to continue properly, I'll need to deal with Mr. Shigeki Kamiko." He pointed at Shigeki.

"What!?" Shigeki snapped. "But we won today's challenge!"

"Yes, yes, and that's all good. But with the absence of Maikeru Tapang, you are no longer with The Game. You are no longer a Player. You are no longer amongst the RG, the UG, or any plane of existence." He began to raise his palm. "We have reached the coda of this ballad, so let's make it worthwhile for the audience."

"Wait.. Shigeki's with us now." Alison said. "Doesn't that count as a pact?" Uwain chuckled softly.

"While your ensemble performs superbly, I'm afraid its harmony doesn't scale with the flow of The Game. Farewell, Kamiko." He pointed his palm at Shigeki, creating a ripple in the air that instantly destroyed him. Alison and Ari were rendered speechless as Uwain took a bow.

"A magnificent performance, wouldn't you agree?" He slowly clapped to himself. "Perhaps we'll meet again later. And perhaps I'll be willing to give a... special encore. Toodles." He teleported away, leaving the two girls in silence.

**Author's Note: **Well, that's the end of the relatively darker Day 2. Please don't say anything if your character has yet to appear in this series. I can assure you that _most _of the characters MIA will appear on Day 3. But if one doesn't, or your character was one of the three that got offed today, I deeply apologize.

Knowing who was going to die in this chapter, I made sure to try to make their brief appearances as awesome as possible. But they kind of grew on me while doing so. It's sad.

Remember, as I said earlier, I'm planning on making a "Week 2" for those who want to re-enter submissions. Sorry again for the long time it took to update. I am 90% sure I will not let that happen again. Please believe me.

Fun Fact: Abakashi was mainly quoting from Edgar Allen Poe's classic _Tell-Tale Heart_. Just thought I'd let you know.


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